Legal Question in Family Law in California

child visitation rights

I have a 14 year old son who lives with his mother supposedly in Maine. I myself live in California. We split up in Dec of 1999 and the divorce was final in June of 2000. She got full custody of my son and I was awarded visitation rights. I am to call 24 hours in advance to make an appointment to see him. Living in California makes it hard to visit. For the first six months,. I was allowed to speak to my son on the phone. One day she called me and my fianc� who lived here with me answered the phone, and that was the end of that. Every time I tried to call he was always unavailable. It was apparent she was no longer going to let me speak to him. I was mailed a notice that she had moved again but this time no phone number. I make my monthly child support payments to the state of Maine. I have done a background check and found addresses for her in Florida, Maine, and California. The last time I spoke with her was about 5 years ago. She said she would do everything in her power to not let me see my boy. I have been trying to locate her since. It is hard for me to take time from work to physically hunt her down. Where do I start? Do I need to hire a detective? Do I need a lawyer from California, Maine or Florida?


Asked on 6/28/07, 7:04 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lyle Johnson Bedi and Johnson Attorneys at Law

Re: child visitation rights

The issue of jurisdiction in your case is difficult to determine. The law in the area of which state has jurisdiction can be complex. Generally the state in which the custody order is made is the home state so long as one parent lives in that state. However, with the passage of time the home state may defer to a state in which the most current information about the child is available.

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Answered on 7/05/07, 11:13 pm


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